Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen saw a 26% jump in first quarter (Q1) system-wide sales in 2020, powered by consumer demand for their popular chicken sandwiches, parent company Restaurant Brands International (RBI) said in an earnings report released May 1.
“Popeyes' success last year was unlike anything any of us have seen in our careers,” Jose Cil, the CEO of RBI, said on an earnings call on Friday. “It’s resilience in the face of COVID-19 with dining rooms closed across the country is equally remarkable.”
The quick service chain saw a flattening in daily comparable sales year-on-year in the last two weeks of March as a result of COVID-19, but returned to pre-crisis levels as of April, the company said.
When Popeyes initially launched their chicken sandwich in August 2019, it sold out in less than two weeks. The chain brought the sandwich back in November, fueling a 34% sales growth in the third quarter of 2019.
In addition, RBI executives noted that they have not seen an impact on their supply chain despite the growing number of meat processing plants that have temporarily halted operations due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
“We’re, obviously, working closely with the suppliers and our distribution partners as well to make sure we have all of our contingency plans in place,” Cil said.
COVID-19 will impact Q2 sales
COVID-19 is expected to have a significant impact on second-quarter sales, RBI warned.
Many countries have temporarily closed restaurant dine-in operations to help control the spread of COVID-19, leaving delivery, takeout and the drive-thru as the only options to make sales.
“We've made many important adjustments at Popeyes since the global spread of COVID-19, rolling out contactless procedures in the drive-thru and putting additional resources behind delivery and mobile order and pickup,” Cil said. “In these channels, we've seen an increase in average order size and ticket, especially in the dinner day-part through communication of our family meal bundles.
It is unclear when Popeyes – and the other restaurant chains owned by RBI – will resume full operations after COVID-19, the company said.
View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.
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